The age of enlightenment was not only the age scientific progress, but was also the age that defined racial differences and the battle of the sexes. Jean-Jacques Rousseau stated that since women are naturally passive, they should assume a passive role in society. Immanuel Kant and David Hume used scientific reasoning to propagate the idea that the white race is superior. They analyzed the way that the white society had always been superior in advancements in science, arts and literature. They assumed that other races must have been incapable of achieving the same level of advancements as the whites because of their inferior race. Do you think that modern day racist individuals use the same rationale as Hume and Kant to justify their racism? Or do you believe that society has always put another race below theirs to justify their actions?
I'd be interested to hear you own answers to those questions.
ReplyDeleteDr. K
You say that Kant and Hume used reasoning to propagate their ideas about race, but really, what was reasonable in their theories? They simply assumed that their race was best, with no actual fact. Only the Comte de Buffon "performed experiments" and hypothesized that humans had developed into different races due to difference in climactic conditions. Even still, his experiments were wrong. To what extent were their ideas begotten through reason, and to what extent were they just pure fancy?
ReplyDelete